Nearly every day this week, temperatures in New York City have reached into the 90s, causing most city dwellers to stay out of the sun and seek air conditioning indoors.

But while the rest of the city tries to keep cool, a group of panhandling women are taking their babies and toddlers out to roast in the sun all day as they use their helpless children as pawns to gain charity.

It's an alarming practice that first caught the attention of NBC New York in November, when the weather outside was equally unsuitable for young children.

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Hard to look at: As temperatures soar into the 90s, a group of mothers have been taking their children outside to suffer in the heat all day as they use the babies as a sympathy card to get charity from strangers

Unashamed: NBC New York first exposed the panhandling ring in November, and Mayor de Blasio pledged to confront the issue. But the women continue to go about their work. One was bold enough to flip off a cameraman (above)

'I have said before and will say again no parent, no adult should use children as pawns in panhandling, risking their safety and well-being on the street and in hazardous weather conditions, such as the heat wave we are experiencing now,' de Blasio (pictured on June 15) told NBC New York

Many viewers had complained to the local station, saying they thought it was questionable the women were using their children to make a buck.

When the station started investigating, what they found was astounding: a group of mothers with small children working together to panhandle in shifts on corners throughout the city. Social services workers also believed that women weren't homeless, since they had consistently refused aid.

That inkling was backed up when NBC found out that many of the moms were living in the same building in East New York.

At the time, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was 'very, very troubled' by the report and promised to do all in his power to end the 'deeply unfair' practice.

'If it’s even possible that parents are using their babies as pawns to get people to give them donations that’s horrendous and deeply unfair to those children,' de Blasio said at the time, promising to coalesce with the NYPD and his children's cabinet to come up with a solution.

But eight months later, the women are still on the street, some even with new babies.

Too hot: On an especially hot day, this woman stayed with her young child outside all day until 6pm

Lunch break: Some of the women have been seen taking breaks together in Grand Central Terminal, and NBC says that many of them live in the same building in East New York

One of the women was so unashamed that she even smacked a NBC journalist's camera before making a crude gesture to the reporter.

When asked why he hasn't cracked down on the panhandling moms, de Blasio issued a statement saying that he has directed the NYPD to investigate whether any laws are being broken.

'I have said before and will say again no parent, no adult should use children as pawns in panhandling, risking their safety and well-being on the street and in hazardous weather conditions, such as the heat wave we are experiencing now.

'We have services and shelters to help people who need resources, and we are actively approaching individuals panhandling with children.

'I have directed NYPD to investigate these situations to determine if any laws are being broken. Officers have been trained to track and refer suspected abuse to (child welfare authorities.). The NYPD encourages anyone with knowledge of abuse to report it immediately,' de Blasio said in a statement.

What to do: The de Blasio administration claims that they organized several meetings in early 2015 to develop a protocol with the NYPD for when an office sees a beggar with a baby, such as looking for signs of abuse or neglect

Gray area: Panhandling itself it not a crime, and bringing a baby along for the work does not constitute neglect, so law enforcement officers have no way of stopping the mothers

Breaking the rules: However, it is illegal in New York to panhandle on the subway, as this woman is seen doing above

Legislation: There may be a solution in coming up with a new law to stop the organized use of children to panhandle

The de Blasio administration also claimed that they organized several meetings in early 2015 with police to develop a protocol when seeing beggars with babies, such as looking for signs of abuse or neglect.

John Friia is one of the New Yorkers who complained to the NBC about the practice, saying he has tried multiple times to call social services on the women to no avail.

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He says that the women stopped their begging for a few months, but they've recently returned to their posts.

'I’m not surprised that nothing’s happened, especially the way the city works,' he said. 'I feel the city should have a task force where they could walk around the city and confront these mothers.'

However, there's not much that law enforcement can do because panhandling is only illegal in New York City on the subway.

And bringing a baby to panhandle does not itself constitute neglect.

However, there may be a solution in coming up with a new law to stop the organized use of children to panhandle.

'We want to make sure that whatever we're looking at legislatively is not used to unfairly target families that are otherwise lawabiding but just fallen on hard times,' New York City Council Member Stephen Levin told NBC.